Media

Christine Whitehead claims that some of the election promises made by Khan and Goldsmith in the London mayoral race may make building homes more difficult. Once the mayor has been elected many of the electoral promises will need to be turned into implementable policies. Whitehead comments on what may be workable within the new mayor’s first term. The original blog entry appeared in Centre for Cities. Click here to read the entire… Read More

How can we provide good affordable housing in expensive cities — and who should live in these homes? Using European examples Kath Scanlon explores various ways of financing and allocating social housing, and ask how <<social>> is understood in different countries at the ETH Wohnforum. One of the main platforms for knowledge transfer is the annual ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE conference, which has taken place in Zurich every spring since 2005…. Read More

London is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Camden council is concerned about the implications of the Housing and Planning Bill that is likely to make it worse. This housing bill, concludes this report, could drastically reduce genuinely affordable homes and the ability to build more, drive up rents, and damage London’s economy. Kath Scanlon, Christine Whitehead, Ann Edge, and Paroj Banerjee contributed to the report for Camden Council. An excerpt from the… Read More

Christine Whitehead was one of the Commissioners on the London Housing Commission which produced a final report titled, Building a new deal for London. The London Housing Commission is part of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Here is an excerpt of the press release. “London faces unprecedented challenges in housing its citizens. The London Housing Commission proposes a new deal to secure essential powers and resources for the London mayor… Read More

Roundtable on Planning and the Role of SME Builders On 20 January 2016 LSE London held the first roundtable of our new project, ‘Accelerating Housing Production in London’. A small group of experts from the private sector and academia gathered to discuss the challenges facing small and medium-sized developers (SMEs) in the London residential market. The discussion was framed around the following questions: Can SMEs play a significant role specifically in London?… Read More

Kath Scanlon briefly discusses some of the possible implications of importing a German PRS model to the UK. After outlining positive and negative aspects, she concludes that it is not enough to know how other models work in other countries. The difficult part, it seems, is predicting how such models differ in this geographic context. An except: ‘The German system has worked well for decades not only because of what it offers… Read More

Professor Christine Whitehead gave the keynote address titled, ‘The future of the private rented sector’ at the report launch of Private Renters’ Rights: Safe and stable homes in Kensington and Chelsea report. Melissa Fernàndez and Christine Whitehead worked in the advisory group. The presentation can be found here and the report can be downloaded here.

Kathleen Scanlon discusses research on the PRS across Europe and the United States in The Telegraph. She touches on some possible implications that the ne tax Buy-to-Let tax may have on professional small landlords. An except: “Kath Scanlon, research fellow at LSE London and co-author of the 2011 report, Towards a sustainable private rented sector: The lessons from other countries, said the new buy-to-let tax “puts the UK out of step with… Read More

Christine Whitehead discusses the social implications of a changing housing market at the ESRC Festival of Social Science: Housing Event at the Geffrye Museum of the Home. She argues that the housing system is failing to provide for population and household formation let alone for economic growth as well as other intricacies of how we have a dysfunctional housing system. An except: Conclusions: The housing system is failing to provide for population and… Read More

Christine Whitehead discusses barriers to accelerating housing delivery at the New Ideas for Housing: Tools for accelerating delivery, New Architecture London event. An excerpt: Findings from our last project: topics to address before the Mayoral election The uncertainties introduced by the planning negotiation process—especially viability and s106; The near disappearance of small and medium-sized builders from the London market; The potential role of Housing Zones; Whether the Mayor has the right powers in connection with new development; How the GLA and local authorities could… Read More